ALEX EDWARDS | The Daily Mississippian
A sign, shown above, is posted at the Whirlpool Trails giving a map for users to reference.
Located on the outskirts of The University of Mississippi campus along Whirlpool Drive are what users might lovingly call underappreciated trails.
Offering beautiful natural space for biking, running and walking, the Whirlpool Trails are maintained by the cooperative efforts of members of the Oxford Cycling Club and the university’s Landscape Services.
A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cycling activities in and around Oxford, the Oxford Cycling Club promotes healthy community space and members through the upkeep of the Whirlpool Trails.
Brad Cannon, the mountain bike coordinator for the Oxford Cycling Club, said that the volunteers from the organization worked on the trails from Thanksgiving to March.
Known as the SWECO crew, the volunteers named for the small bulldozer used to maintain the trails put in hours equivalent to 12 days of work in a few short months, according to Cannon.
“We had a total of over 300 hours of manpower between Thanksgiving and the beginning of March,” he said.
The SWECO crew has five dedicated volunteers who show up every weekend to work on the trails, Cannon said. But, on a good weekend, they can expect six to 10 volunteers.
Over the winter, the SWECO crew rerouted worn-down and eroded trails, working with a corps of engineers to redesign these trails as easier to navigate, Cannon said.
Although the reconstruction is beneficial, some students are not fond of it.
“I don’t like how they are developing and reconstructing the trails,” sophomore business major Liza Wirt said. “Sometimes they are working on the trails and it hinders me from riding.”
Cannon said the biggest upkeep challenge is damage from storms. When a storm happens, the crew will go in and trim the hanging branches and pick up the fallen limbs.
“We make sure the ‘face slappers’ are trimmed and that the trail is safe to ride and run on,” Cannon said.
University of Mississippi Landscape Services works with the Oxford Cycling Club to keep the road leading to the Whirlpool Trails clear.
“We do not maintain the trails,” said Denise Hill, superintendent of Landscape Services. “The extent of what we do at the trails is Bush Hogging the right of ways and maintaining the main road that leads to the trails.”
Hill said the city helps Bush Hog where it is too steep for their equipment and that the physical plant assists in managing erosion.
Although the trails have been around for almost 20 years, few people know about them.
Cannon said the the university is hesitant to promote the trails due to the possibility that the land will be used for expansion of university facilities in the future.
“This is our biggest roadblock,” Cannon said of the possibility of future development.
In this past, the Oxford Cycling Club has tried to get petitions signed to get the university to help promote Whirlpool Trails. Nothing has become of this action.
“I think that a lot of people don’t know about the Whirlpool Trails because they are kind of hidden on campus,” junior engineering major Lydia Makepeace said. “If you’ve never been there before, you can’t really tell that they are there.”
The Oxford Cycling Club has established a website and a Facebook page where new and current members can find information about rides in Oxford and along the Whirlpool Trails.
Hosting two big rides per year, the Tuff Guy Ride in March and the Clear Creek Challenge in September, the Oxford Cycling Club continues to try to promote cycling awareness in and around Oxford.
“Over the years, our program and use of Whirlpool Trails has really bloomed,” Cannon said. “I’m excited to see it continue to grow.”
